October 16, 2009
The abbey is very serene and peaceful. There is beautiful scenery on the way there as well. The cafe/brewpub is rather quaint but has a nice atmoshphere. The staff is very friendly and spoke Dutch and English. There is a very meager food selection- sandwiches, soup, bread, pie. They serve 5% versions of their blond and bruin beers that are only available on tap there. I had them both and I enjoyed them. The beer store is great. They have an excellent selection of Belgian beers and a few imports as well. Most of the Trappist beers are available. Every Trappist brewery was well represented (with the exception of Westvleteren of course). And the glassware- wow! I have never seen such a selection of glassware. They have proprietary glassware available for seemingly every beer they sell. I was amazed. Also of note was the decent wine selection, Trappist-made cheese (Achel), and Trappist-made chocolate (La Trappe). The chocolate is delicious. I haven’t sampled the cheese yet. Prices were really quite reasonable for everything. The trip was a really enjoyable experience. I highly recommend a visit.

August 30, 2009
A tourist trap, but quite nice as such. Get the Achel 5 beers (the Blond is a nice summer brew, Bruin less so but ok) for about 2e/glass, maybe eat a sandwich, visit the art gallery, and then head to the shop, which carries a decent selection of beers at very fair prices. Also lots of glassware. In the middle of nowhere, but worth the trip.

August 25, 2009
Went on a detour from Germany to stop here. Very nice courtyard between the old stables and the canteen (I can’t name it otherwise), luckily it was sunny. Lots of cyclists here and a few locals. Had both beers, which were cheap but also very disappointing imo. The beer store has a good selection glasses and of standard and some rarer Belgians for fair to cheap prices, I picked up approx. 20 new rates. Worth a detour just to "tick" the location.

August 10, 2009
Got there by bike. The place is quite touristic for a beer place. Terrace and cafe are okay, friendly and helpfull staff. The store has all the belgian beers you can get everywhere else and you most likely already had. Well, one rare treat they had when I got there, some bottles Cuvee van de Keizer 2000. There are still some of them, I couldn’t carry all of them. ;) I liked the place.

March 25, 2008
Got a ride by car, but seems to be a very nice area to go by bike as well. The sun trap terrace is inviting, but a bit too cold in March. The inside Cafe is a bit like a truck stop diner. Tried both 5 degree draught beers. Also available was both 8 degree and the extra bruin. The beer shop packs a rather nice selection as well. Well worth an extra trip.

November 28, 2007
There are three attractions here: a religious shop, a cafe, and a beer shop. I’m not religious, except with respect to beer, so we headed straight for the cafe. The food was simple and cheap, perfectly fine for killing your hunger while sampling the beers. (Ask for the bottled versions for the real deal, unless you’re just curious about the drafts.) From the cafe you can also peek through the windows to the brewery portion. The real highlight, though, was the shop. A great selection of beers, glasses, cheese, and other goodies. Oh my, we dropped a lot of coin in there.

November 15, 2007
We actually skipped the whole brewery section and headed to the store, which has an incredible selection of belgian and dutch beers (most trappists available) as well as the best selection of glassware I’ve seen. Go there if you have the chance.

October 12, 2007
I visited this place while on a beer treck through Belgium. After visiting Westvletern, Westmalle and Hoegaarden I was sorely disappointed in the beer that they were serving. True the store on the grounds had a nice selection of beers and there were the usual 3 beers from Achel to be found in the bottle. But the Achel beers on tap in the fancified cafeteria were awful! The bruin tasted very new, overly yeasty and lacked any sort of taste that was remotely close to the bruin in the bottle. The blond was undrinkable. One of the guys in my group bought it, we all took a sip and then left a near full glass because it was awful. The location is quite pleasant, there are a few items to eat, such as a couple of hot sandwiches, some slices of pie and some soup, as well as some cheese. But all in all this was a disappointment. If you go, walk around the place, it is quite pleasant. Go to the store to purchase some beers and then head west to Westmalle.

July 16, 2007
Ok, probably one of those places you must have visited once but I wasn’t too impressed beerwise. The scenery is interesting though, especially on a warm weekend. Crowded with people who come here by bus, car or bike having a Trappist and lunch.

May 29, 2007
Enjoyed this trip to Achel. Wasn’t expecting such a selection of beer and glasses. Definitely worth the trip and hope to get back.